LAW TEAM REACHES LEXISNEXIS MOOT COURT FINALS

The Law Faculty sent two teams to participate in the 2017 National LexisNexis moot court competition from 4 to 8 October 2017, held in Pretoria. These teams consisted of two students each (ms Kathleen Henning and ms Jodie Muller, and ms Gretchen Jansen and mr Earl Coleman), selected from the top performers in the mock trial component of the faculty’s Clinical Legal Education module, Practical Legal Training 471. The two teams were accompanied by their coaches from the Legal Aid Clinic, mr Stephan van der Merwe and mr Chris Julius. The faculty’s mr Cobus Jooste (intellectual property law) and mr Bernard Wessels (law of delict) also provided preparatory assistance to the teams. While both teams performed admirably, one team (Kathleen and Jodie) won all their heats to progress to the semi-final, where they were deserved winners over the highly rated team from Rhodes University. In a tough final, Stellenbosch lost to the home team from the University of Pretoria.

The participants from Stellenbosch were united in their appreciation of the opportunities a competition like this presented to the development of their legal expertise:

“Although the week preceding the competition (as well as the competition itself), was filled with research, preparation and nerves, it was an extraordinarily enjoyable and educational experience. Not only did the situation force us to become well-acquainted with the relevant legal theory and case law, but also taught us to express our thoughts and ideas in an articulate manner.”

Kathleen Henning

“Thank you for this amazing experience, without it I would not have discovered how much I truly enjoy mooting and now my only regret is that this is my final year and I won’t have the opportunity to take part in something like this again. Thank you for the exposure and the chance to learn important skills such as how to structure my arguments and how the law actually works in practice. I am also grateful for the time, effort and financial resources that were put into the week, and the faith that was placed in us as a team. This was a valuable experience which I will always cherish.”